Results 14,901-14,920 of 32,572 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Broadband Plan (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Cowen is making many assumptions regarding how this project is going to develop and those assumptions have yet to be tested. The Deputy's view is underpinned by an assumption that I am not aware or not involved in what the cost of this process will be or decisions that will be made regarding it. I am actively involved in all of that. I have laid out what the process is to the Deputy...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. The management, delivery and oversight of individual investment programmes and public services within the agreed allocations are a key responsibility of every Department and Minister. With this in mind, the monitoring of the national children's hospital project, including regular progress reports, is a matter in the first instance for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My answer, when the Deputy sees it in written format, will slightly fill out some of the points I have made to him. I am clear that with business cases being developed now, particularly in the aftermath of the great challenges and difficulties we had with the national children's hospital, I am seeing two features in place more and more. First, I am seeing the costs in place refer to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department and I play a role in appraising and further understanding cost-benefit analyses that come into our Department. However, this is the case not just with analyses that come in from independent boards, but also with those that come in from Departments. To respond to the Deputy's second question about the participation of officials of mine on boards, we have seen a greater...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The majority of public works projects are currently delivered using fixed price, lump sum contracts tendered on a competitive basis, with clear risk allocation set out in the tender documents.  These contracts represent the default tendering position for projects delivered under the Exchequer-funded element of the National Development Plan.   In line with...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget Targets (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The demographic figures used to inform budget negotiations are based on an ex-ante analysis carried out by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES). Demographic cost pressures from 2017 to 2027 are set out in the IGEES staff paper ‘Budgetary Impact of Changing Demographics 2017 – 2027’ published in September, 2016. This paper is based on figures from...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Since 2015 it has been possible to provide for significant increases in Government expenditure, which have allowed for the recruitment of additional staff across the public service.  At the end of 2014, there were 293,346 public service employees (on a full-time equivalent or FTE basis) and this increased to 330,576 (FTE) by end 2018.  In particular a large proportion...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 19 together. This issue relates to a claim by community employment supervisors and assistant supervisorswho have been seeking, through their union representatives, the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme. The matter was the subject of extensive discussion...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Regulations (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Work to promote the incorporation of social and environmental considerations in public procurement is being progressed under the National Public Procurement Policy Framework which is the overarching policy framework for public procurement in Ireland. Under this framework, proposals to implement environmental considerations in public procurement are being developed through...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The process of unwinding the Financial Emergency (FEMPI) legislation commenced under the Lansdowne Road Agreement 2016-2018 and will be completed under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA). The PSSA, which was negotiated in 2017, and the provisions of which were statutorily provided for under the terms of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, allows for...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 25 together. I should first explain that as Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at a Departmental level.  Responsibility for the management and delivery of the individual investment projects, within the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Private Partnerships Data (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: PPPs are subject to VFM tests at four stages when they are being procured and to comprehensive post project reviews once sufficient time has elapsed for their operational performance to be properly assessed.  Post project reviews should be published as soon as possible, subject to the withholding of commercially sensitive information. Responsibility for conducting post project reviews...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Negotiations (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I am sure Deputy will agree, the EU-funded INTERREG and PEACE programmes continue to act as important drivers of regional development for the border region of Ireland and for Northern Ireland.  INTERREG programmes funded by the EU exist to address the challenges encountered by border regions.  In the case of Ireland, an additional and unique programme, the PEACE programme,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 28 and 29 together. The Public Service Pay Commission was established to advise Government on public service remuneration policy. In the current phase, the second phase of the Commission's work, it was tasked by its Terms of Reference to undertake an examination of whether, and to what extent, there are difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Regulations (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As stated in Circular 10/14: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement, Public Sector Bodies are required to advertise all contracts for supplies and services with an estimated value of €25,000 (exclusive of VAT) and upwards on eTenders, the Governments National Tendering platform. In May 2017, a proposal was put to the SME Advisory Group to raise the current threshold of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: All capital projects in excess of €20m have to be subjected to a post-project review to determine if the predicted benefits of the project were realised. For capital projects the benefits will not be realised until the project has completed. The aim of the post-project review is to determine whether: - the basis on which the project was undertaken proved correct - the expected benefits...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget Measures (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the revised budgetary timetable, there are a number of key points in the budgetary process that inform the considerations in relation to budgetary priorities. The draft Stability Programme Update 2019 (SPU), published this week sets out the macroeconomic outlook for the period from 2019 to 2023. Following on from the SPU, the SES to be published later this year will set out the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Project Ireland 2040 (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Project Ireland 2040 – comprising the National Development Plan (NDP) and the National Planning Framework (NPF) - was launched by the Government on 16 February 2018. The NDP seeks to reform how public investment is planned and delivered.  It sets out a strategic vision for Ireland’s public capital infrastructure priorities over the next 10 years strictly aligned with the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Value for Money Reviews (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government’s Innovation and Development Framework, Our Public Service 2020, includes a commitment to promote external and alternative delivery models for new services in appropriate circumstances.     However, decisions to outsource functions are reached on a case-by-case basis by the organisation that manages the service in question.  In line...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Expenditure Reviews (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Managing the delivery of public services within allocations and meeting our budgetary targets forms a key part of the responsibilities of every Minister and Department. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in regular contact with all other Departments and Offices to ensure that expenditure is being managed within the overall fiscal parameters. The drawdown of funds from the...